Zapatero set to win Spanish elections, exit polls show

DPA Madrid, March 10 (DPA) Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s Socialists were set for a clear victory in Sunday’s general elections, according to three exit polls after polling stations closed. One of the polls even said Zapatero’s Socialist Party could reach the absolute majority of 176 seats.

The opposition conservative People’s Party (PP) was given between 145 and 152 seats in the 350-member parliament.

Voter turnout was expected to come close to the 76 percent reached in 2004, when large numbers of Spaniards went to polls after Islamist train bombings had shocked the country.

A high turnout had been expected to help the Socialists.

Zapatero had sought an absolute majority to be able to govern without the support of far-left and regionalist parties, as he has done until now. DPA